Chapters The next day after getting back from their rafting trip, Pinkie goes over to Twilight's and apologizes. Twilight gladly lets her friend in and lets her explain herself.
"I'm so sorry for accidentally throwing your book in with the twins' stuff," says Pinkie, a frown on her face. "It was an accident."
"I know," replies Twilight, "Mrs. and Mr. Cake told me."
"I'm just glad you're not mad at me," replies Pinkie.
"Pinkie, I could never get mad at you, you know that," replies Twilight, "now how about you go grab Rainbow and Applejack and we can go out for lunch and you three can tell me about your rafting trip." Pinkie nods and goes off and gets Rainbow and Applejack. An hour later, they meet up with Twilight at the Hayburger and tell her everything about their rafting trip. Twilight listens with a smile on her face. Everything is perfect now and she'd honestly have it no other way. She continues to listen to her friends' story for hours on end. After they finish their burgers, the friends go off to the fair grounds and ride the rides and enjoy ice cream. Twilight is glad they're back and she can definitely agree she'd rather be hanging out with them instead of freaking out over a book like the last two days. That is one fact that will never ever change.
It's just a normal day and Twilight is sorting through her library when she realizes her favorite book is missing. She begins flipping out. All of a sudden, Spike walks in. "What's wrong, Twilight?" he asks.
"I lost my favorite book, the one Shining gave me as a birthday gift the week before I left our home to go study with Celestia!" says Twilight, continuing to flip out.
"Don't worry, we'll find it, I'll help you search," replies Spike.
The two begin looking for the book but to no avail.
"Okay, okay, clearly this isn't working. What does the book look like Twilight?" asks Spike.
"Well, it's got a simple brown cover with italic text on the cover that reads The Masked Crusader. It also has a picture of a masked hero on it," replies Twilight.
"Great, now that's progress!" replies Spike. The two take up looking for the book once again. The two look for several hours but still to no avail. Twilight's eyes begin to fill with tears. What if Shining found out? What would he say? What would he do? Twilight is devastated. She goes and slumps onto her bed and cries.
As she's in her room crying, Spike continues to look for the book, but all he finds is dust and some scattered gems that got loose from their bowl which he gladly eats before continuing his search for the book.
A few hours later, Twilight finally pulls herself together and goes back out to help Spike search for her book. "Did you find it yet?" she asks him.
"No, just dust and some stray gems," replies Spike, "sorry."
"It's okay, let's just get back to searching," replies Twilight. She lights her horn up with a small dot of magic and begins to search under every table, chair, and other piece of furniture in the room but still to no success. Twilight begins to cry once again. That book means the world to her and now it's possibly gone forever and that breaks her heart.
The next day, Twilight and Spike take up the search for the book once again. They search all across the library once again but still nothing. Twilight sinks down into the slumps once again and breaks into tears ad Spike once again does his best to comfort her.
Meanwhile, learning that Twilight lost her book from Spike, the Cakes are looking for it at Sugar Cube Corner. They search everywhere in Sugar Cube Corner and soon stumble across the book in their children's toy bin. The two are shocked. They grab the book, put it in Mr. Cake's saddle bag and head for the library.
About fifteen minutes later, the Cakes burst through the door of Twilight's home. "Twilight we found your book!" says Mrs. Cake. Twilight wipes her eyes and turns around to see the Cakes. Mr. Cake hands it to Twilight. A thrilled Twilight embraces the Cakes in a hug. "Thank you so much! Where did you find it?"
"It was mixed in with Pound and Pumpkin's toys," replies Mrs. Cake.
"Well, thanks for bringing it back," replies Twilight, walking over and putting the book back in its spot on the shelf. "Just out of the curiosity, how did the twins get it in the first place?"
"It was probably a mistake on Pinkie's part as she's the one that gathers up their toys and she was in such a rush to do it a few days ago, so she could go on a rafting trip with Rainbow and Applejack, so she must have mistaken your book for a children's book. It's an easy mistake," Mrs. Cake responds.
"Well, thanks for bringing it back, it means the world to me, now can I treat you to lunch, to thank you?" asks Twilight. The Cakes nod. The three head off to the Hayburger to enjoy some lunch.
As they enjoy their Hayburgers, the three talk and laugh and joke and have an all around good time. Twilight enjoys the Cakes and honestly can't thank them enough. After they finish their burgers, Twilight goes back to her library and continues to sort through her books and dust them and clean absolutely everything to a beautiful shine. Once she's done cleaning, she grabs her Masked Crusader book, goes outside onto the balcony and begins to read through it, smiling all the while, just glad to have it back in her hooves. Twilight is glad to have the Cakes as her friends. She can honestly admit, what would have happened to her favorite book if they hadn't found it? It could've been ruined by child slobber. She's glad her favorite book never met that fate. After all, it was a birthday gift from her brother and that's why it means the world to her and now it's back in her hooves, so she can't help but read it over and over and over again.
